Wednesday, December 29, 2010

On Wisconsin!

We're big University of Wisconsin fans at the Briney household. It's hard not to be when we've been living in Madison for over 5 years and both have degrees from the University. And seeing as we're in the Rose Bowl and it's Christmastime, I thought my husband could use a new piece of clothing to show off his Wisconsin-love to the world.

This hat was constructed as a two-stripe helix from some leftover bulky yarn (for more on helical knitting, see this post). If the colors were not enough to shout 'On Wisconsin!', I cut out our 'motion W' logo from two pieces of felt and used embroidery floss to sew them to the hat. I really love the look of the felt on the knitted fabric.

It's really not that difficult to add a pretty little touch of felt to a knitted item. Here are a few notes on what I did:

I cut the W freehand, though you could easily trace a shape onto the felt before cutting.

Use a pair of sharp embroidery shears to cut with as they make clean cuts in tight spaces.

Use pins to secure the felt to the knitted fabric as you sew.

Work with 3 of the 6 floss threads at a time.

Sew through both pieces of felt and the knit fabric using backstitch, working about 1/8" from the edge of the top piece.

With a little extra effort, I was able to produce something that both the husband and I love. U-Rah-Rah Wisconsin!